22.7.10

Linking you to the art of Soerodipoero 'Paul' Poernomo. A Javanese Muslim who chained himself to a Post Office building in the centre of Melbourne in the early 70s and fasted for 40 days and nights to raise awareness of the starvation in Bangladesh.

19.7.10

We are dealing with the Defence and Promotion of deen, life, progeny, dignity, intellect and property. Not human rights incorporated, freedom of speech wont feed my children, just brings heart disease and bootleg clothing.

The Matter at handThe late founder of Jamat e Islami and writer Syed Abu Ala Maududi's publications are coming in for a new kind of attack from the Government of Bangladesh these days. It has banned his books from libraries, officially 'for Islam' and 'against extremism'. Actually it was for a couple of other strategic and tactical reasons: political vendetta, geopolitical sock puppetry and ideological opposition.

It is a ridicuous proposition. Blaming Maududi for any particular category of violent criminality in Bangladesh is like blaming Peter Gabriel for the technocratic commodification of multiple musical traditions for the white (sorry) ear that is 'World Music'. As the late awesome sociologist of the resurging world Syed Husain Alatas might have put it, 'somewhere along the line, a fool had left the imprint of their brain.'

I have a few meals of consider upon hearing this news.

1) The wealth, health and beauty of Islamic thought and practice across South Asia, or Dinia, but specifically Bangladesh.

and

2) What on earth these Awami Leaguers and supporters are playing at. The meals are two because the banning group, unfortunately, is not really interested in the first meal. It seems, officially at least, genetically incapable of talking to the first meal.

Googling around I found several kinds of responses online. They represent the circuits of people who use internet technologies rather than anything particularly intelligent and penetrative. The press in Bangladesh is under pretty strong government disciplining on these matters, but lets wait a couple of days before writing it of as completely in the pocket. This Dawn editorial is the most sensible response ive heard (yet).

On a rather salafi forum some of the more naive people brought up some of Maududi's pronouncements on Dajjal to shoo him away from their professed claim to authenticity. Is there a word to combine cute and cruel?

A rather poisonous brownsaheb blog claimed this a historic first for any government and ranted politically and selectively to promote the general ethos of the move, whilst qualifying ever so slightly that the move was wrong according to orthodox secular liberal doctrines.

A pakistani military wannabe forum of testosterony south asian willy-wavers hosted a much wider range of views, pretty loopy but interestingly covering quite a lot of bases.

Deshi blogs are unsympathetic to Maududi. Their access to him, Political Islam and Jamat-e-Islami through history is through the discursive traditions of war crimes, Bangladeshi foundationalism, student warfare and near historical construction/editing of curricula, culture and creativity.

Its all 'exciting' to listen to, perhaps even pornographic, but doesnt really address meal 1,which i recomend non-secularist deshi ummahtantrics focus on. Indeed the real blandness of the second meal points to meal 1

7.7.10

In the rush to talk to government the umbrella organisation seems to have skipped over something far more interesting than talking to technocratic white men, that is weaving the ummatic mosaic together. What I mean is that basic stuff which you'd have thought forged the basis of an Ummahtic MoU.

The shared university experience has gone some way as to recosmopolitanising the musalman, but onlyamongst the few who got there.

Having projected itself as a secular-cum-liberal-cum-subservient-cum-nominally-lefty political party to the powers of the West for a number of year and as the bulwark against 'Islamic fundamentalism' in Bangladesh, the Awami League now has unbridled state power and is reproducing itself with it in every way that it can imagine. Airports, bridges, public bodies, lynch mobs, campus mobs and illegal occupations (dokhol) of property that would make a Zionist blush. It is brutish, thuggish and will respect/tolerate no opposition.

This force can dominate Bangladesh because,

the competition is inadequate.

the public are gullible.

democratic practice has brought the worst out in the people.

the national mythology is locked into a perpetually degrading loop.

it takes a national re genesis event to stamp a new political imprint on the country.

many of the people who should be imagining better and beyond the secular boundary are otherwise occupied, dead or buried.

The Awami league government in bangladesh has prepared a kangaroo court for some of its political enemies from Jamat Islami Bangladesh. Great emotional weaponry and evidence propagation has preceded these official actions.

AND

A great deal of criminal activity was committed during the three/four way war for Bangladesh.

I say three/four way because you have sovereignty splitting at some stage and multiple official actors.

Firstly, pro liberation forces of Bangladeshi/Bangalee minus Bengali identity.Secondly, there are the Pakistan forcesThirdly, the Indian forces helping proto-BangladeshFourthly, the pro-Pakistani forces within late east Pakistan and early Bangladesh.

Group 1 is now after the remnants of Group 4. Group 1 declares its interest is in War Crimes and Justice. Group 1 associates all non-secular views and subalternate national mythologies to stem genetically from Group 4. Group 1 is really quite mental and insecure.

So even as a political orphan, one cannot ignore or disown Group 1's warped view on war crimes. It is a stick to beat political opposition and is closely coupled to the programming of seculrijm/Jionijm into Bangali Nationalism. Red flag, Bull.

Yet, there are a growing number of people from Bangladesh, with access to non official sources and narratives of 71 times who do not see a macro nobility in the events of the most recent national genesis and do not give up and submit to the shubidabadiness that is deshi political praxis. Lord protect you from the poison of your brothers.Power to you!